1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a stator that is provided in an electric motor, and relates to a protecting member for a stator.
2. Description of Related Art
A stator provided in an electric motor is usually formed by stacking a plurality of steel plates, and includes teeth for winding an electric wire. Between the electric wire and the stator, insulation needs to be maintained. For this purpose, in some cases, an exposing part of the stator is coated with an insulating material, and the electric wire is coated with an insulating material to secure an insulation property. The electric wire is wound around the teeth of the stator coated with the insulating material.
When the electric wire is wound, the electric wire is pressed into edge portions of the teeth of the stator, and this results in degrading insulating performance and reducing electrical strength. In light of it, a thickness of the insulating coat formed on the stator is required to be large. As a result, a slot where the electric wire wound around the stator is accommodated is made small (wire-winding space is made small) to reduce the efficiency of the wound wire.
In view of it, a stator described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-279241 is coated with a resinous insulating member at the portion contacting with an electric wire such that the electric wire does not contact directly with the stator.
However, according to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2010-279241, the insulating member is molded in conformity with the shapes of the tooth part and the slot, and the resinous member is inserted into the slot of the stator so as to cover the portion where the electric wire is wound. This technique requires a process of inserting the insulating member, and the work takes time. Furthermore, the insulating member protects the stator over the entire length of the slot in the direction of stacking steel plates, so that when the number of the stacking steel plates is changed, the shape of the insulating member also needs to be changed. This increases a cost of the insulating member. In addition, the insulating member is provided in the slot, so that the region where the electric wire is wound is limited to be narrow. As a result, a winding efficiency is reduced. Furthermore, the insulating member is provided between the stator and the electric wire, so that it becomes difficult for the heat to transmit to the stator from the electric wire that generates heat due to an electric current flowing therethrough. As a result, heat radiation performance is degraded.